


pointers

by ndnickerson



Category: Nancy Drew - Carolyn Keene
Genre: Established Relationship, F/M, Making Out, Romance Novel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-04
Updated: 2019-12-04
Packaged: 2021-02-26 04:01:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,101
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21667108
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ndnickerson/pseuds/ndnickerson
Summary: Nancy discovers a romance novel in Ned's room, and she has many questions.
Relationships: Nancy Drew/Ned Nickerson
Kudos: 26





	pointers

Nancy bent down to pick up the tissue box that had just tumbled to the floor, and her fingertips brushed something else. She knelt down and felt under the small table beside Ned's bed, and pulled out a battered paperback.

_Her Rogue Millionaire Suitor_

Nancy's eyebrows immediately rose as high as they could go. After a breath, she glanced around, but she didn't see any other obvious signs that another woman had been in Ned's room at the Omega Chi house. The torn short edge of an envelope served as a bookmark, and the book wasn't covered in a layer of dust, as she would have expected if the book had been there since before Ned had moved in.

Still.

On the cover, a busty blonde with a fall of artfully tousled loose curls was in the arms of a man with a rakish grin. The two of them were on a Persian rug in front of a roaring fireplace, an image completely at odds with the blazing sunlight and eighty-degree temperatures outside.

She flipped the book over.

_Penny Lovelace has been nursing a broken heart since her fiancé dumped her a week before their wedding. Their perfect Christmas ceremony in shambles, Penny flees the pity and concern of her loved ones by taking their honeymoon trip solo to an exclusive resort in the Swiss Alps. There, she meets Thorn Rothschild, a devastatingly handsome man whose easy grin hides his own pain. What begins as a casual fling quickly becomes anything but..._

The door swung open. Nancy glanced up, blushing slightly, to see Ned standing there.

"Hey! Did Howie let you in?"

Nancy nodded. Then, after a beat, she picked up the book and held it so Ned could see the cover, waiting for an answering expression of confusion.

Instead, Ned released a quiet, happy cry. "I was looking for that! Where'd you find it?"

"Under... the table," she said with a gesture, slowly, her eyes round with wonder. "Uh... Are you..."

"Yeah, I wanted to finish it before I packed to go home."

Nancy just continued staring at him. He caught her gaze and shrugged.

"Sexist much?" Ned chuckled.

"Just surprised," she said, still slowly. "Is this... like, for a project or something...?"

He sat down beside her on the bed. "Well, want the short story, or the long version?"

Nancy tapped her chin for a second. "Long."

"So my aunt, when I was about ten, made some offhand comment to my mom that if a guy really wanted to know what a woman wanted, he would read the romance novels she likes." Ned shrugged again. "It stuck with me. I think it was some backhanded way of criticizing my uncle, but my mom agreed.

"Then Brent—" Ned glanced at Nancy, and when he saw her shudder a little in revulsion, continued. "Said this kind of book is just misandrist trash and stupid."

"So, naturally..."

"Whenever Brent feels the need to slam something that hard, I check it out. His opinions are garbage. He just has so many friends because of that jet-ski."

Nancy chuckled. "Right."

"So I was trying to figure out what to read, but I heard so much bad stuff about some of the books that I knew those were out. No one was really saying what was _good_ , though. I saw Bess post about some books she was reading, but she's apparently really into cowboys...?"

Nancy nodded, laughing. "Very much."

"But this author seemed to be pretty popular." He gestured at the book. "The other two I read by her seemed pretty good."

Nancy's eyebrows rose again. "Other two?"

"Yeah. I think this is number... five?" He shrugged. "What can I say, Drew? Like a less pansexual Walt Whitman, I contain multitudes."

Nancy stifled her loud burst of merriment by burying her face in Ned's pillow and laughing with unabashed glee for a few moments. "Leaving aside the question of whether Walt Whitman could ever be himself without being pansexual..."

"Which could be a master's thesis all by itself," Ned agreed.

"Has this been an edifying process? Or have you discovered a previously unfound love of unlikely coincidences and just-naughty-enough text descriptions of lovemaking?"

"'Just naughty enough'?" Ned repeated, with haughtily raised eyebrows. "I'll have you know that in addition to miles of long, shapely leg, Penny Lovelace possesses a brilliant accounting mind."

"My apologies to the heroine."

Ned dropped the act. "I don't know. Of course some of it's just 'what ridiculous coincidence is going to drive the plot next?' But... yeah, I was kind of hoping for some pointers. Any guy can give you a dozen roses and a nice piece of jewelry. What would really knock you off your feet, though?"

"Have the books helped with that?"

"They might, if I knew the kind of ones you read."

Nancy shrugged. "Mysteries. Thrillers. I don't really do just solid romance. Detective duos who happen to be a romantic couple? Sure. I can get behind that." Then she rolled her eyes. "As long as every other book doesn't involve the female half of the couple being put in danger just to ramp up the stakes."

"So the rest of the book, the guy's in danger?"

Nancy smiled. "I like to read about smart, competent detectives who help each other. A good chase sequence is way better than a makeout session."

Ned clapped a hand over his heart. "How did I know you'd say that? Maybe you've just been reading the wrong romance novels."

Nancy shook her head. "Try any at all."

"Exactly."

Nancy laughed again.

"No, really. I get it. I get why Bess loves this kind of book. Fighting through obstacles to be with someone who truly loves you. And those steamy scenes don't hurt, either." Ned reached for Nancy's hand and gazed deep into her eyes. "Reading that the hero's heart races whenever the heroine walks into the room... and knowing exactly what that feels like."

Nancy's own heart was pounding. "Mmm," she managed, searching his eyes.

"Whisking the woman I love away on a romantic, moonlit Maui cruise," Ned continued, his voice low and intimate.

Nancy swallowed, remembering that night. "Sounds like you might not actually need any pointers," she whispered.

He moved a little closer to her. "All that's the prelude," he murmured. "Even these books are. I just need to know what _you_ want, Nan."

"You," she replied, their faces so close that she could feel his breath against her lips.

He nodded slightly, his lips brushing against hers. "Always," he replied, just before their mouths met in a kiss.

**Author's Note:**

> This story was originally published elsewhere. If you enjoyed it, please consider leaving feedback!


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